Catalogue
urbainable – stadthaltig. Positions on the European City for the 21st Century
Tim Rieniets, Matthias Sauerbruch, Jörn Walter
Akademie der Künste, Berlin / ArchiTangle GmbH, Berlin 2020
English, 224 pages, 300 illustrations
ISBN 978-3-88331-241-5
Order number: 2075
Price at the exhibition € 30, in bookshops € 38
Constant change is what marks the history of the European city. Over centuries, architecture’s reactions to social disruptions — natural disaster, plague, or war — have fashioned the city into an engine of civilization. And bound up with this has been the promise of economic independence, social cohesion, and individual freedom. Today, fundamental challenges like climate change are bringing cities face to face with new transformations — calling into question the continuity and sustainability of the ethical foundations underpinning urban ways of life. Bold and decisive steps are needed. How far can urban planning, landscape planning, and architecture foster the vital processes of change? How can the city offset possible losses caused by altered lifestyles, integrate new technologies, or rehearse new forms of behaviour and ultimately sublimate them into a functioning culture?
In this volume, the members of the Architecture Section and their invited guests from all over Europe introduce their positions by means of projects, visions, and manifestos. Essays by selected authors with different viewpoints supplement the practical discourse.